Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Hey guys, wanted to start a thread to get some conversations going with all you Pennsylvania bow hunters about some of the issues arising about PA' s Archery season.

First, I' d like to get an idea how many of you live and/or hunt regularly in PA as well as the general location/area that you live and/or hunt. I don' t need specifics.

Secondly, what do you think of the rifle and muzzle loader seasons that are slapped right at the beginning of the rutt?!

Thirdly, Has anybody heard about the proposed flo orange regulations for next years archery season?! (Last month' s issue of the PA Game News I think)

It seems that PA is working on snuffing out the archery hunters. The deer have spooked for the rutt for a couple years now, and it looks like it' s only going to get worse!

I' m sure more topics will spawn off of this post, but i' m just interested in getting some opinions.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I don' t get it???? We pay to join these bowhunting organizations so we have a voice and what do we get? They get in bed with the Game Commission and things just get worse and worse for archery hunters in PA.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Whine whine whine. Someone always looking to blame someone else for their failures. A competent bowhunter should have his buck long before the rut arrives.[:-]:eek:

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Sure, but with small game starting up and a week long muzzleloader hunt and a 3 day rifle hunt right before the rut it gets pretty crazy in the woods.

I don' t think I' ve seen the pressure form those seasons as many others have. I live in the middle of the Allegeny National Forest, so very little pressure until rifle season.

As far as the orange goes.....there' s a thread in the NE forum about it. I think it' s rediculous, but if you take a look at that thread you' ll see that nobody is going to abide by it! I for one can tell you right now that I will not where 250 sq. in. of orange in the stand....

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I currently live and Hunt in the Area around State College, PA and was born and raised Just north of Harrisburg in the Halifax area. Your right, us bowhunters really do get the shaft when it comes to the seasons. It seems like every year we have to share our season with other types of hunters and i' m sick of it. And as for the new orange requirements, this is the most ridiculus thing I have ever heard of, there is no need for us to be wearing orange on stand. If they think that then during turkey season you should also have to wear orange all of the time. I don' t know who came up with this idea but they have to be the biggest idiots in the world.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I live in Johnstown and hunt here, pittsburgh, and altoona. I also disagree w/ the proposed changes to flo orange. I have emailed my thoughts to game commission as well as wrote them a letter.

If you are unhappy and then you MUST do something about it. Let you voice be heard. It' s not enough to belong to an organization and sit back hoping that they do something.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

The bow hunters and turkey hunters are getting screwed on the orange reg, The bowhunters just get screwed all around other ways with seasons all through the archery season.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Washington county , The deer have been spooky sence they implamented that muzelload hunt right before the rut , for the last couple years . Jason I got my new regs in the mail and I think they are the same as last year you have to wear an orange hat and shirt while you are moveing , when you are in the stand you just tie your orange shirt around the tree and have no orange on yourself . I HOPE!!!!!!! they dont change that next year . The gun hunt you speak of I guess is for the kids , never realy had a problem with that , but the muzzelloaders are another story , I like to do it myself but the flintlock open sights rule has alot of pepole in the woods blasting away and lower success harvesting . Its like a war zone around where I hunt . Definatly spooks the he!! out of the deer and next day is archery .

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I agree this early muzzleloading thing has got to go. Just another way the PGC can make a quick $$$. Small-game, pheasent season, it all needs to disappear from overlapping with archery. At least give everyone their fair amount of time. It seems as though archers really keep getting the shaft.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Huntingdon County here, hunting around Lake Raystown.

I don' t necessarily like the early muzzleloader season, but it happened last year as well (I believe) and I still saw some nice bucks after it, and would have gotten shots at them if I hadn' t been on the ground.

As far as orange goes, i don' t like that either, I didn' t wear more than a hat last year when i was moving and when i was sitting at a stand and whatnot, i took it off.

The land I hunt is private and i can count on one hand how many guys hunt it, and that number is maybe 1-2 in archery season, and we have all talked and have general ideas of where the others are when we are on the mt. together and we avoid each others areas.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I live in Brockway and hunt a tri county area(Jefferson,Elk and Clearfield) . The early muzzleloader season hasn' t really affected us since they revised it.The first year everyone had to shoot does that week or use it for scouting!! That boned me on several occasions. But I can say that we see next to no added pressure(knockin on wood).The orange requirements however are a definite thorn!!! What I don' t get is that a few years ago we got the " temporary " increase in the archery lic. which I' ve come to deal with. But we are getting those " advantages" taken from us that I' ve heard several people use as reasoning for increase. First we are sharing the woods with gun hunters right when the gettin gets good, then small game gets bounced around,and now the orange regs????!!!! When do we start getting something back?? I personally would love to see them institute an archery only bear season!!I can see the orange in fall turkey, since I have several times found myself at the business end of a shotgun and can say even though I' ve never been shot that it was the sickest I' ve ever felt.The early seasons for kids I don' t mind but everyone has the same opportunity to pick up archery equip. and get the extra woods time. So why is it that those who do are being punished for those who chose not to???!!! I personally could care less if I hunt with a gun ,even though it sounds errogant , there seem to be virtually no challenge to it!!!We shoul start a writing campaign mail and email to state government and the PGC , as this would seem to be slightly discriminitory?!!Tell every archer you know,whether they hunt or not this is where they start whittling away our freedoms!! Gun hunters beware you too will be next. The hunting community needs to remove the divisions because when our freedoms go your' s will be next!!!!!!!SORRY FOR THE RANT BUT HUNTING IS MY TIME!!!

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I feel for you guys here in GA we have archery season then muzzle loader then gun season.U can use a bow all year. As far as the hunter orange we dont have to were it untill muzzle season starts. But I wear it to and from my stand for safety during achery season (X-bows are allowed). Its no big deal the deer are color blind. I`ve had deer walk right by me with orange on and they did not see me. Movement is what gets u busted. And as far as guns going off our dove season runs into archery season and one of my best stands is a 100 yds from a field, killed a many a deer with shot guns going off all day long.They live in the woods where are they going to go.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

We are getting hte SHAFT yet again in our bowhunting regs. It does suck that the season ends when the buck get hot too, the days u can be in the stand and see 3 or 4 diffferent buck are slowly getting less and less. And what i have to say for those smokepole hunters in early season, GARBAGE.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

ijimmy,

You' re right, the regs are they same for this year. I believe the commisioners are voting on the orange requirments in October for the 2004-05 season. Personally, I don' t hunt turkeys and sometimes forget to put my orange hat on while moving to/from my stand. Not intentionally ignoring the law, but forgetting. Like I said, we don' t see that much pressure in my area form the small game, muzzy or turkey hunters. We get more interuptions from hikers/campers/tourists than anything....I hunt the hills around Kinzua Dam. I wrote a letter to the commisioners about the orange requirments....I was civil but to the point.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I hunt Wayne County and as far as the Orange thing getting out of hand... 2 of my friends were cited by a WCO for not wearing orange while hunting turkeys this spring .... they were 20 yards from the truck, loading their shotguns, on private land, in the middle of a wide open field, at 10 AM on a bright sunny day and 1 had his orange hat in his back pocket, the other was on the ground at his feet (camo side up, it was reversible). They each had to pay $152 fines.

They were told by the WCO the main reason for the orange in the fall and spring was so that WCO' s could spot hunters from the orads or while they walking the woods.

Not bashing ALL WCO' s here .. but this 1 was a first class a$$. I also know the details so clearly because I was standing at the truck about to head off to another field when the WCO pulled up.

I understand the safety aspect, but I' m personally opposed to trying to legislate common sense. People need to be held responsible for their actions, I' m not sure the person who shoots at noise or movement is going to change their actions or behavior because of an Orange law .. mainly because they are to stupid to read the laws!

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I really should move this to the Northeast forum since it is more Pennsylvania focused than anything else but unless one of the other mods decides to do it sooner I am going to leave it up here for another day or two before moving it.

Call me greedy, call me selfish, call me whatever you like....I would prefer to have at least the first four weeks of archery without interruption. I can deal with the small game overlap during the rut even though I hunt heavily hunted public land. When they introduced the muzzleloader/rifle season in October I was upset but learned to live with it. When they introduced the youth pheasant hunt last year on the 2nd Saturday of October I was upset but learned to live with it.

If they try to make me wear 250 square inches of orange during 5 out of the 6 weeks or the regular archery season then you might as well blind fold me and make me wear week old underwear because I sure as heck won' t be harvesting any deer that year.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I live in York Co,own property and do most of my deer hunting in Somerset Co.To be honest,I don' t really see any differance in the deer' s behaviour because of the early ML season(and I usually hear alot of shooting the 1st weekend).I usually take off the 1st week of Nov.and last year I saw more buck than ever before.As for the orange-I won' t wear it while hunting my property and I' m against the proposal completely.I did send a the PGC a letter concerning my(and many other hunters)feelings on the matter.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

yea these laws are bull! i can see wearign orange to your stand in archery but once there u should be allowed to take it off. And i think the reason that the WCO' s can see u in your stand is crap because then they would just walk up to you and make sure u got all ur tags and everything and practically ruin your hunt. i was talkin to a guy yesterday and he only hunts rifle and he said that he thinks archery is garbage because by the time rifle gets around the deer are spooked, i remained calm as best i could and told him that archery is all about stealth and being quite and that the deer get spooked by small game and muzzleloaders early season not by us bowhunters. i would love to see a week or two more uninterrupted by other gun hunters.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

first off , i' m not too crazy about the muzzleloader and that junior /senior hunt they throw in during archery, however being i hunt mostly on private property.. and beside one or two other bow hunters , no one else hunts there till rifle season ,m and why is it that we bowhunters are the ones that ALWAYS get the shaft!!!!(no pun intended). and as far as the orange goes as long as i can take it off on stand i' m not gonna worry about it , but this was the first i heard of it if i have to wear it all the time that means we' ll have to go to the public meetings and put up a stink! we' ll just have to wait and see !and i would love to see the season go a week or two (thats asking alot) without any guns in the woods.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

I hunt SW PA mostly. As far as the proposed flo. orange rule change, and allowing crossbows in regular archery season goes....just fill out the petition that came in your UPB magazine. Call the contacts listed...politely state your objections to them. Try to go to the October meeting.

If you are not a member of the UBP......join now! They do more for your archery hunting rights than you can do by yourself.

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Live in in SE., Pa. - Phoenixville, near Valley Forge. Hopefully will still be hunting in Chadds Ford (s. of West Chester, down by Long Wood Gardens) again this year.
I was in French Creek Outfitters (local archery shop) today & saw a petition againgst both the proposed orange changes & the crossbow issue. Check your local shops & see if they' ve already started one , if not, maybe they' ll start one up.
PS: Think it' d be a shame to move this to another forum area. I see we' re getting some input from some other states.
John

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

More problems for the PA archer[:@]

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

Hey guys, thanks for the response. I' m glad to see that I’m not the only bent arrow over this.[:-]

I love the peace that I experience in archery season. I spend most of my time just sitting there with nothing around me other than Mother Nature in all her glory. When I climb that tree, I' m there to be alone, I' m there to reflect, I' m there to hunt. Between work and relationships, a man/woman doesn' t have all that much time to be one with themselves and nature. Personally I value my time on stand. I value the serenity of archery season. I value my thoughts.

Now, you throw muzzle loaders into the mix, tromping around the woods trying to walk up on that elusive bald head, walking right by you only to disturb the serenity. Don' t get me wrong, I' ve had other archers walk into the area I was hunting, no big deal, but when you hear and see 5+ guys walking up behind you and walking on each side of you to put on a drive, it messes everything up. This is how the deer get spooked, people romping around in the woods.

Archery is stealth. We are like ninjas that wear camo, perched in our tree waiting for unexpecting quarry to walk by. We rely on the deer in their natural state. Sometimes we get lucky and a nice buck or doe gets spooked and runs right under our stand, but that is rare. Archery hunters spend the majority of their off season researching and scouting. We do alot of work not to disturb the environment because we know that if we change something or make a commotion, the deer know it. Just as you would if somebody walked into your own house and moved something or made a big commotion. The woods are where they live. That is their own home. They know if something big is going on. They know that when there are a bunch of humans walking around in the woods, there is something wrong.

I would like to think that the Camo companies like RealTree or other big names would come to the archery hunter' s beckon call about the proposed regulations. It would be in their best interest to help us out on this one. If the archers are required wear 250+" of orange, camo sales will no doubt decline here in PA. (Not that they couldn' t survive without us.) This may also give us a bigger voice about it, or maybe some more credibility. The little guy backed by some Corporate America guys, in my mind would have a greater voice.

Well, Thanks for listening to me rant and rave about this and I apreciate all your comment and opinions. Keep em coming.


--PABowhntr <-- thanks for your tolerance, I thought the thread would weigh more on the archery side of things, that' s why I posted it here. If you need to move it, i understand. ;)

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

If you think other hunters from other states would be behind us on this, take a look at this.
http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showth...threadid=29390

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

The real problem is each year pa gets tougher on us archers . Youth hunt , muzzelloaders , small game , and fall turkey all going on at the same time as archery . They sould do it like some of the other states , archery only first , then muzzelloader , then general gun . Just my lopsided opinion , of coarse I only hunt archery there , but it makes since to me .[8D]

RE: Pennsylvania Bowhunters Unite
 

the muzzleloader season should be taken out. if you can' t get a doe with your bow in archery season, then ur a$$ can wait till rifle season to get one. find a buddy that knows how to archery hunt and i am sure he will give u some meat to last till rifle season!